Main menu

You are here

About OECA

The Ottawa East Community Association (OECA) is the volunteer run association representing the residents and businesses of Old Ottawa East. Monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month at our community centre, the Old Town Hall, located at 61 Main St.
The community association endeavours to:
• encourage citizen participation in the planning and development of the community;
• provide a vehicle through which the opinions and desires of the people of Old Ottawa East can be made known to their elected representatives and government staff;
• preserve and improve Old Ottawa East as a residential community and focus attention upon its history and heritage;
• protect and enhance parks and greenspaces;
• enhance amenities in Old Ottawa East with the goal of improving the quality of life for residents.

Along with other community associations, the OECA is part of the City Centre Coalition, Citizens for Healthy Communities, the Coalition Against Queensway Widening, as well as the Federation of Community Associations.

The OECA board meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Old Town Hall, located at 61 Main Street (with the exception of July and August). All are welcome to attend. If you are interested in becoming a member, an annual membership to the OECA costs $3 per household. Memberships are available for purchase at our monthly meetings. Minutes from past meetings are found on the Archive page.

Our annual general meeting is held the second Tuesday in November in conjunction with the AGM of the Community Activities Group (CAG). Read the 2016 President's Report from the 2016 AGM.

For full details about the operation of the OECA and who can be a member, please view our constitution and bylaws (updated in November 2012).

If you would like to receive an electronic update about news and events occurring in OOE, please subscribe to the Old Ottawa East eUpdate.

We work closely with Sustainable Living Ottawa East (SLOE) (a committee of the OECA that is focused on making Old Ottawa East a leading green community in our city), as well as the Community Activities Group (CAG) and the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre (SHCHC). Our community newspaper is called The Mainstreeter. It is published six times a year (approximately every two months). Links to these groups can be found under the "Community Directory" section.

We also work closely with our elected officials at the municipal, provincial and federal level. They are:

For city concerns such as by-law enforcement, street and sidewalk maintenance, garbage and recycling, or community services, please visit Service Ottawa online, or call 3-1-1 or email 311@ottawa.ca.

About Old Ottawa East

According to the association’s by-laws, Old Ottawa East is defined as: the area bounded by the Rideau Canal to the west, Nicholas Street to the north, the Rideau River to the east, and Avenue Road to the south. Read the Old Ottawa East Brochure to learn more about the community.

Please note: Since the amalgamation of the City of Ottawa, we refer to ourselves as the Old Ottawa East Community Association similarly to what was done in Old Ottawa South. We have been adding the prefix “Old” to our name on a working basis. Throughout this website, the terms Ottawa East and Old Ottawa East mean the same thing.

History of Old Ottawa East

Old Ottawa East was originally the suburban community of Archville, and was incorporated as the village of Ottawa East in 1888. The village was then amalgamated with the larger City of Ottawa in 1907. Old Ottawa East's complete history is available for viewing at http://history.ottawaeast.ca. Written in part and compiled by Rick Wallace, it includes about 500 photographs and 300 pages of text about the development of this community.